Avery Holton
Avery is a full professor and serves as Chair of the nationally ranked Department of Communication at the University of Utah. The Department is home to nearly 1,000 undergraduate majors, engages in more than $80 million in grants, and has experienced year-over-year enrollment growth since 2021. The Department of Communication ranks among the Top 10 in the country in areas of research publication and citation, book publication, and grant engagement and was recently included in Shanghai University's ranking as No. 29 in the world and No. 16 in the country (both the highest rankings acheived by the Department). The Department also successfully launched the first University of Utah Asia Campus Master's Degree Program in 2024.
Avery serves as Vice-Head of the Council of Divisions for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and previously served as Co-Coordinator of Research for the University’s Center for Excellence in Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Research, which received grants of $8.1 million from the National Institutes of Health.
His research and teaching engage media identity, emerging technology, and individual well-being. He is co-author of The Paradox of Connection (University of Illinois Press, 2024), co-editor of Happiness in Journalism (Routledge, 2024) and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He previously served as an Associate Chair (2018-2020) for the Department and was the University’s Student Media Faculty Advisor (2016-2023). As Director of the University’s Communication Institute (2020-2021), he helped establish the largest historical donor gift for the Department of Communication: a $1.5 million gift from Edna Anderson-Taylor for a new communal space as well as support funds to amplify local journalism.
Avery was selected as a Vice President's Clinical and Translational Research Scholar (2018-2020) and as a Digital Journalism Research Fellow with Oslo Metropolitan University in 2019. He was named a 2018 National Humanities Center Summer Fellow and a Rising Star in the Humanities. He completed his PhD as a William Powers Fellow in the College of Communication at the University of Texas Austin (2013) where he also received a Doctoral Certification in Disabilities Studies.
In addition to his journalism background, he was a communications specialist (Director of Communications) for the Triple-A Round Rock Express, then part of the Houston Astros. He makes his home in Salt Lake City with his wife, Katy, their daughters, Luna and Bea, and their pups, Dezi and Roark.
Address: Salt Lake City, UT
Avery serves as Vice-Head of the Council of Divisions for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and previously served as Co-Coordinator of Research for the University’s Center for Excellence in Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Research, which received grants of $8.1 million from the National Institutes of Health.
His research and teaching engage media identity, emerging technology, and individual well-being. He is co-author of The Paradox of Connection (University of Illinois Press, 2024), co-editor of Happiness in Journalism (Routledge, 2024) and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He previously served as an Associate Chair (2018-2020) for the Department and was the University’s Student Media Faculty Advisor (2016-2023). As Director of the University’s Communication Institute (2020-2021), he helped establish the largest historical donor gift for the Department of Communication: a $1.5 million gift from Edna Anderson-Taylor for a new communal space as well as support funds to amplify local journalism.
Avery was selected as a Vice President's Clinical and Translational Research Scholar (2018-2020) and as a Digital Journalism Research Fellow with Oslo Metropolitan University in 2019. He was named a 2018 National Humanities Center Summer Fellow and a Rising Star in the Humanities. He completed his PhD as a William Powers Fellow in the College of Communication at the University of Texas Austin (2013) where he also received a Doctoral Certification in Disabilities Studies.
In addition to his journalism background, he was a communications specialist (Director of Communications) for the Triple-A Round Rock Express, then part of the Houston Astros. He makes his home in Salt Lake City with his wife, Katy, their daughters, Luna and Bea, and their pups, Dezi and Roark.
Address: Salt Lake City, UT
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Research Papers and Book Chapters by Avery Holton
Perspectives on Change, Challenges, and Solutions."
Since the purpose of journalism has been to provide citizens with useful information so that they can make individual and collective decisions about their governments, lives, communities, and society, it is important to understand how peripheral news actors in journalism such as web analytics companies are altering news production and culture. Such consideration can provide insights into what news is today and what it may look like in the near future. Drawing on interviews with we analytics managers representing some of the leading web analytics companies in the world, this study examines how these companies perceive their roles in journalism and how they may be altering news production and culture.
Perspectives on Change, Challenges, and Solutions."
Since the purpose of journalism has been to provide citizens with useful information so that they can make individual and collective decisions about their governments, lives, communities, and society, it is important to understand how peripheral news actors in journalism such as web analytics companies are altering news production and culture. Such consideration can provide insights into what news is today and what it may look like in the near future. Drawing on interviews with we analytics managers representing some of the leading web analytics companies in the world, this study examines how these companies perceive their roles in journalism and how they may be altering news production and culture.